Anthony Thomas Boone, 44, of the Little River community in north Baldwin County was arrested Jan. 25 and is facing wildland arson and harassment charges related to three fires he allegedly set on two days in Nov. 2012 near his home community. Alabama Forestry Commission Chief Craig Hill said that over a five-year period, his agency found that 31.3 percent of all wildland fires in Alabama are started intentionally. (Birmngham News)

BAY MINETTE, Alabama – A Little River man is facing charges in connection to fires he allegedly intentionally set on three tracts of land near his home community on two separate occasions in Nov. 2012.

Alabama Forestry Commission Chief Craig Hill said Anthony Thomas Boone, 44, was arrested on Jan, 25 and charged with wildland arson and harassment. He was taken to the Baldwin County Jail and has since been released on bond.

Hill said the harassment charge stems from threats Boone allegedly made against people who confronted him after seeing him leaving the area where one of the fires was started. Other eyewitnesses reported seeing Boone start at least one of the fires.

“We were very fortunate that these private citizens notified us of that,” Hill said. “The sad part of this is that we did a five-year average of the source of wildland fires and found that 31.3 percent of wildfires are intentionally set.

“These people don’t realize the potential damage to other people’s property, the people who live there and to the people, the firefighters, who fight these fires.”

Hill said, upon questioning, Boone gave no reason for starting the fires. If convicted of the Class C felony, Boone faces one to 10 years in prison and/or up to a $15,000 fine.

Luckily, Hill said, volunteers from the Little River Fire Department were able to respond very quickly and put out all three fires before they could burn more than 6 acres combined. He added, however, the potential damage was much greater.

“It’s not the size of the fire that matters. The potential for damage could have been very great. When those fires are set at the right place under the right conditions, you have a pending disaster,” Hill said.

Hill said the Forestry Commission is committed to reducing the number of forestry-related crimes such as wildland arson, theft of timber and vandalism of or theft of harvesting equipment that annually cause hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses across the state.

The AFC provides a Wildland Arson/Forest Crimes Hotline so that citizens can call and report crimes of this nature. The toll-free number is 1-800-222-2927 and any information provided is confidential and the caller remains anonymous.